E-Learning Links Shipping EmployeesE-Learning Links Shipping Employees

If ever there were a perfect target industry for the benefits of online training software, it's shipping. Because employees are scattered around the globe, the distance between instructors and students can stretch thousands of miles, sending costs for training and travel spiraling and delaying critical knowledge-sharing. With E-learning, employees can collaborate, stay up-to-date with business practices and software advancements, and remain competitive, even while they're oceans apart.

APL Ltd., the international subsidiary of $1.61 billion transportation company NOL Group of Singapore, recently implemented CentraOne, Centra Software Inc.'s Web-based platform, for employee training and collaboration. More than 1,500 sales representatives in more than 126 countries now get training for Siebel Systems Inc. customer-relationship-management software, along with other key sales and financial software, via the Internet. Neither company would disclose terms of the contract.

APL began implementing Centra's E-learning systems last year. Sigrid Peterson, corporate dean of NOL Global Campus, the company's training division, says the systems have already saved the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel-related costs and improved customer satisfaction.

Since the training was implemented, "We've received more demand from all functions of the business than my staff can handle," Peterson says. She plans to use the new software for corporate training, financial planning, and online collaboration.

E-learning has tremendous value for companies with widely dispersed workers, says Cushing Anderson, a senior analyst at International Data Corp. As a more-efficient way to deliver in-depth financial and accounting knowledge, "there's almost a direct measurable benefit to using this software."